Mixing device



MIXING DEVICE Filed Sept. 22, 1955 1 I lo *fle ,3, y l2 f2s y la A f2?I7 ,f 'f l s l l z /l 7 l5 I \l |M4 i 1 I v 4 lNvENToR Daniel Rosenthaln, hat 710:23; f 431W A'rToRNEYs'` i United States Patent O MIXINGDEVICE Danielv Rosenthal, Brooklyn, N.Y. Application September 22',1955, Serial No. 535,909

2 Claims. (Cl. 239-310) This invention relates to mixing devices' and,more particularly, to a device for mixing a pressurized fluid treatingagent with a carrier fluid.

A wide variety of mixing devices has been proposed and used heretoforefor incorporating a treating agent into a carrier stream. For example,in order to introduce a fertilizer composition into a stream of water sothat the resulting fertilizer solution can be applied to a garden orlawn, a number of mixing devices has been developed wherein the waterflowing through the Watering hose flows in contact with a cartridge ofsolid but Water-soluble fertilizer. Other mixing devices for thispurpose utilize a Siphon action of the water flowing through the hose soas to draw into the water stream a concentrated solution of thevfertilizer from an appropriate container. However,` the eiectiveness ofthe solid cartridge arrangement is limited to the solubilitycharacteristics of the cartridge and is further limited to the use ofwater-soluble materials, thus excluding the use of many availableinsecticides, fungicides and the like; the use of a siphoning devicealso has an inherent disadvantage in that the treating agent must bepremixed and separately charged to the container, with the attendantjeopardy of handling and transferring chemical treating agents which arefrequently noxious and dangerous` I have now developed a mixing devicein which an optimum concentration of a treating agent can beincorporated in a carrier fluid regardless of the solubilitycharacteristics of the treating agent in the carrier fluid andregardless of the rate of flow of the carrier lluid. This result i'sachieved pursuant to my invention by utilizing a pressurized containerof the treating agent as the supply source ofthis material and byconnecting the pressurized container into a mixing chamber in suchmanner that any controlled rate of flow of the pressurized fluid treat-ying agent can be introduced into the stream oi the carrier fluid Howingthrough the mixing chamber. Thus, the mixing device of my inventioncomprises a valve housing having a carrier iluid inlet and a dischargeoutlet for the mixture of treating agent and carrier fluid. A carrierfluid llow control valve is positioned within the valve housing, and thehousing is further provided with a fluid treating agent inlet positionedbetween the carrier uid inlet and the mixture discharge outlet. Acontainer support is mounted on the valve housing, this support beingadapted to hold a pressurized container of the treating agent inoperative position adjacent the treating agent inlet so as to dischargeits content of treating agent into the treating agent inlet. The mixingdevice is further provided with a treating agent ilow control valveadapted to control the flow of pressurized fluid treating agent from thecontainer into the valve housing.

These and other novel features of the mixing device of my invention willbe more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the mixing device of theinvention; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of another modification of my mixingdevice.

As shown in Fig. 1 the mixing device or" my invention includes a valvehousing 5 one end of which is provided with -a carrier i'luid inlet 6advantageously having a water or air hose coupling 7. The other end ofthe valve housing 5 is provided with a conventional spray nozzle 8 whichserves as a discharge outlet for the mixture of carrier fluid andtreating agent which is produced within the valve housing 5*. The valve'housing is provided with any suitable type of conventional valve forcontrolling the rate of flow of the carrier fluid, such as water, fromthe carrierV fluid inlet 6 to the mixture discharge outlet 8. For thispurpose, however, I found it advantageous to combine the carrier uidiiow control valve with the discharge outlet by using a valve 'stern 9and a valve seat 10 of the discharge opening as both the valve and thespray outlet. This valve arrangement lends itself to manual control by ahand lever 11 pivotally mounted on the valve housing 5 so as to retractthe valve stem 9 when the control handle 11 is depressed. Thus, movementof the control handle 11 controls the rate of discharge oi the mixtureof treating agent and carrier Huid from the valve housing.

The admixture of the treating agent with the carrier fluid is obtainedby introducing the treating agent `into the interior of the valvehousing 5 through a treating agent inlet 12 positioned between thecarrier fluid inlet 6 and the mixture discharge outlet 8. In thepresently preferred embodiment of my invention, the lower end of thetreating agent inlet 12 is provided with a supporting structure adaptedto hold a container of the pressurized fluid treating agent in operativeposition so as to introduce its pressurized contents directly into thetreating agent inlet. This structure advantageously comprises abell-shaped cap 13 from the skirts of which depend locking straps 14 and15. The locking strap 14 is pro vided at its lower extremity with aseating ring 16 adapted to receive and to support the bottom of acontainer 17 of the pressurized treating agent. The supporting strap 15is advantageously hinged at its upper end to the skirt of the cap 13,and the lower end of this strap is provided with a perpendicular footportion 18 adapted to engage and hold the lower surface of thesupporting ring 16 in a position such as to maintain the container 17 inoperative position adjacent the treating agent inlet. It must beunderstood, however, that other supporting structures may be used such,for example, as a bayonet lock the components of which are distributedbetween the interior of the cap 13 and the top portion or the container17.

Although a variety of mechanical expedients may be also used fortransferring the pressurized contents of the treating agent supplycontainer 17 to the treating agent inlet 12, the arrangement shown inFig. 1 is particularly satisfactory. In this arrangement, the dischargeoutlet of the pressurized container 17 comprises a rubber grommet 19capable of being pierced by a slender transfer tube 2t) depending fromthe lower interior portion of the treating agent inlet 12. When thecontainer 17 is forced upwardly against the tube 20, the tube piercesthe gro1nmet 19 and provides a direct transfer connection between theinterior of the container 17 and the interior of the' treating agentinlet 12. The ilow of pressurized iluid treating agent from thecontainer 17 through the treating agent inlet 12 is controlledadvantageously by a needle valve 21. Thus, although the container 17itself is not provided with a discharge control valve, the mixing deviceof my invention provides for this control so that the rate at which thetreating agent is transferred from the container 17 to the stream ofcarrier fluid flowing through the valve housing 5 may be carefullyestablished.

The modification of treating uid inlet shown in Fig. Z

asevera makes possible the use of a pressurized container 17 providedwith a conventional type of discharge valve 22. Operation of this valveis elected by a valve linkage 23 mounted within the valve housing 5.Retraction of the valve stem 9 of the mixture discharge outlet valvecauses a tapered projection on the stem to depress the valve linkage 23and thus depress the container ydischarge valve .22. With this valvearrangement, the more the mixture outlet valve stem 9 is retracted, themore the container discharge valve 22 is depressed, with resultingautomatic control of the rate of transfer of the pressurized treatingagent from the container 17 to the stream of carrier uid owing throughthe valve housing 5.

The carrier fluid used with the mixing device of my inventionadvantageously vcomprises a stream of water such as that obtained from agarden hose. However, it

Vmust be understood that a different carrier liuid such as `fertilizersuch as calcium monophosphate or ammonium phosphate may be the treatingagent. The propellant or 4 pressurizing gas for this purpose may beFreon, carbon dioxide, orv the like, and the pressure within thecontainer may vary from low to high in accordance with conventionalpractice. Regardless of the degree of miscibility of the pressurizedfluid treating agent with the 4carrier fluid, the mixing of these twocomponents within the valve housing 5 and the discharge outlet 8 issuicient to promote the desirable distribution of the treating agentthroughout the mixture discharged from the mixing device. Where thetreating agent is to be applied to the surface of vegetation, thepressurized treating agent may further contain any of the conventionalsurface wetting agents which are used to promote wetting of the surfaceof the vegetation with the treating agent mixture.

Although, as described hereinbefore, the amount of treating agentdelivered into the treating agent inlet 12 may be automaticallycontrolled by the carrier fluid flow control valve, it is desirable insome instances to maintain still more careful control over theconcentration of the treating agent in the carrier fluid. For thispurpose, it is advantageousto use Ithe modification of my device shownin Fig. 1 wherein the rate of introduction of the pressurized treatingagent into the valve housing can be independently controlled by theneedle valve 21. With this arrangement, it is possible to obtain visiblecontrol of the concentration of the treating agent in the carrierfluid-treating agent mixtureby incorporating a suitable dye (such as thefood coloring dyes and the like) in the treating agent charge in thepressurized container 17. Thus, by controlling the needle valve 21 forany setting of the carrier fluid ow control valve, a predetermined colorof the carrier Huid-treating agent mixture discharged from my mixingdevice may be obtained to insure a predetermined optimum concentrationof the treating agent in this mixture.

`I claim:

l. In combination with an independently pressurized replaceablecontainer of fluid treating agent sealed by a removable spring-loadedcontainer valving element, a mixing device for mixing the treating agentwith a carrier fluid and comprising a valve housingy having a carrierfluid inlet and a discharge outlet for the mixture of treating agent andcarrier fluid, a carrier uid ow control valve positioned within thevalve housing, the valve housing being further provided with fluidtreating agent inlet means positioned between the carrier fluid inletand the mixture discharge outlet, a container support mounted on thevalve housing and adapted to removably secure said independentlypressurized container of the treating agent in operative positionadjacent the treating agent inlet means in position to discharge itscontent of treating agent from said spring-loaded container valvingelement into the treating agent inlet means, and treating agent flowcontrol means positioned within the valve housing, said treating agentflow control means being operatively associated with said carrier fluidow control valve whereby to control `said container valving element inpredetermined relation to said carrier fluid flow control valve andthuscontrol the ilow of pressurized fluid treating agent from the containerinto the valve housing.

2. A. mixing device according to claim 5, in which said carrier fluid owcontrolling Valve comprises an elon`- gated rod extending through saidvalve housing and having a portion adapted to be received in saiddischarge outlet, said carrier fluid valve being operative upon movementof said rod with respect to said housing to control the flow of fluid tosaid discharge outlet, said treating agent flow control means includinga cam-like portion carried by said rod and `adapted upon movement ofsaid rod with respect to said housing to actuate said container valvingelement.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

